China to further promote development of private education

The State Council has released guidelines to promote private education while encouraging more social support for education.

The move is aimed at further boosting the role of private education with the support of society.

Since reform and opening-up, private education has gained great momentum and become a vital part of socialist education thanks to its crucial contribution to the promotion of education modernization and social development.

Related departments should focus on innovating educational system, improving support policies, strengthening regulation and enhancing the quality of teaching, in an effort to further stimulate social enthusiasm for supporting private education.

The State Council also underlined innovation in private education system. Private schools should be managed under the categories of profit-oriented and nonprofit. And both categories should give priority to social interests.

Governments at all levels are required to enhance their financial support for private education in accordance with related laws and regulations. The funds used in this regard should be included in the government budget and made open to the society, with an aim to improve the efficiency in fund usage.

To provide further incentives to private education, the circular noted same student loan policies should apply to both students from private schools and public schools. And private schools will enjoy a series of preferential tax policies.

The circular also called for speeding up modernization process of school system in private schools with a more clear management mechanism and regulations.

In addition, private schools should better serve the needs of society, deepen reform of teaching, and innovate schooling pattern while enhancing the building of teachers team and introducing international education resource, with an aim to improve the overall education quality.

To further guarantee the implementation of the guidelines, local governments have been urged to include the development project of private education in their overall plans of social development and education undertaking.